KIRKUS REVIEW

Stunning color photographs and a
lively, engaging text depict both the special bond between a mother leopard and
her cub and how the cub learns to become independent.

This coming-of-age story about
Legadema, meaning “light from the sky” in the Setswana language, takes place in
Botswana’s lush Okavango Delta region. The Jouberts chronicle how the cub
learns from her mother and from experience the skills she will need to survive
on her own. One dramatic moment finds the cub encountering a pride of hungry
lions and narrowly escaping by climbing a tree. The descriptive text is vividly
evocative of Legadema’s world: “When crimson clouds blanketed the horizon and
the forest came alive with a cacophony of animals and an orchestra of frogs
that sounded like tiny bells, Legadema’s mother carried her cub in her mouth
and settled into their sheltered den.” Beverly Joubert’s captivating photographs
capture the cub at play, at rest, interacting with her mother, and hunting. The
Jouberts explain in an afterword that they spent four and a half years living
with Legadema. In addition to Legadema’s story is general information about
leopards and a color map showing where they live in Africa.

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